Introspection
by longing.for.redemption
Summary: Ace angsts as he awaits his imminent death. *SPOILERS up to ch556*


**Disclaimer:** No, I do not own the One Piece, otherwise I'd be the Pirate King.

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Kneeling on the execution platform, watching the massacre happening below him, his exhausted mind going as numb as his feet, for the first time in his life Ace was hit with the sudden urge to just give up.

_Give up? Ha! That was a funny one. _One corner of his mouth crooked up in a cynical smile, the irony of his helpless situation not escaping him. _What is there to give up? 's not like I'm doing anything at the moment._

Around him, the war cries of thousands of men harmonized with the screams of thousands of others, dancing and mating, twining around and around each other until he couldn't tell what was what, which was which. He closed his eyes. It was all rather soothing, actually. On another day, it would have tickled his ego to know that he was the reason for all this chaos, but as sounds grew distant and his thoughts turned inwards, he found that he just couldn't bring himself to care anymore. 'sides, he was just a pawn in a greater game; this fight wasn't about _who_ he was, but rather, _what_ he was.

Right. What he was. That bitter piece of truth that had ruined his whole life before it even began. He had spent his whole life rebelling against it, trying to get recognition for his deeds rather than his heritage, but that man's ghost kept coming back to haunt him. That self-centered bastard who had condemned both his wife and unborn child with his selfish actions. Fucking old man, will he never be free from living under his shadows?

_"That's why you, more than anyone else, need to become stronger!!! So that you can kick his ass someday and make the whole world look at you instead!"_ unbidden, the memory of a past conversation rose to the surface of his thoughts.

_"What are you babbling about, Luffy? He's dead! How am I supposed to kick a dead man's butt?"_

_"Oh, yeah…well, I'll become the pirate king someday and I'll kick his ass for you!!! Hehehehehe"_

_*sweatdrop* "I think you just totally missed the point…"_

He laughed at the memory, the sound catching his executioners off guard. A trickle of blood ran down his neck from where the blades bit into his neck as they tightened their holds on their weapons and pressed closer to him.

That little idiot, always making him laugh, always making him worried. Back on Level 6 of Impel Down, he had regretted not being able to keep his promise and had secretly wished for the chance to see his brother one more time before he died. When the rumors started flying around about a pirate who had not only infiltrated but was actually heading **down** the prison hells, he had been amused at how much that sounded like Luffy, but when the details started to fit together perfectly into a jigsaw puzzle of his brother, he became more and more agitated. Then that babe, Boa Hancock, had come and confirmed his worst fears: Luffy was here. To save him. Even as a part of his heart lightened, he became furious. That dimwitted, reckless retard! Does he even realize what he's doing? Why must he make Ace worry about him, even at death's doorstep?!

_Because you wished to see him again._ He couldn't deny the truth in that. Man, if he could just see his idiot baby brother one more time….

"AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCE!!!" _That's right. He sounds just like that._

"JUST WAIT RIGHT THERE!!!" _It sounds so real, almost as if he was right there…above…me…ABOVE me?!_

Eyes flying open, Ace craned his neck back and looked up, not even noticing that the move to the new position had caused the blades to cut deeper into his neck. Before his brain could even register what he was seeing, the hailstorm of men had descended upon him and something, or rather **someone**, smashed into his stomach, sending him flying back, off the platform and onto the ground below. In that moment, the numbness in his mind shattered and the noise came crashing down around him, exploding in his face, pounding against his ears, and drilling into his skull. Lying on with on the ground with broken pieces of the platform raining down around him, he lifted his head and was stunned to see his brother sitting cross-legged on his stomach, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Yo Ace! Long time no se…" was all Luffy managed to say before he found himself eating dirt as Ace grinded his face into the ground.

"YO MY ASS, YOU SHITTY BRAT!!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?! ARE YOU TRYING TO FUCKING KILL ME?! I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP IN THE FIRST PLACE! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, INVINCIBLE?!"

Luffy's head bounced back as Ace released it at the end of the angry tirade, his grin still in place. "I'm the guy who will become the Pirate King," he declared, as if it was a universal truth.

And for that one traitorous moment, Ace allowed himself to believe it.

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w00t! It's done! My first fanfic ever!. I don't quite like the ending, but oh well. R & R, k? XD


End file.
